Welfare Reform Term paper
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To Be...Or Not To Be
Look at our nation! We have industrial technology, an education system, advanced health care, a banking system, plenty of food available and so much more that is easily accessible. If all this is available to everyone, why are there people that don’t have places to sleep and things to eat? The fact that the United States is a rich country is the key reason why people, that are willing, will never starve or go without having shelter. The biggest objection that people have with helping others is that much of the needy does not try to better themselves and that they take a free ride through life. One very controversial program provided by the United States Government is welfare. The welfare system can be useful in society but there are also consequences to the system that must be addressed.
Welfare refers to a host of policies and programs designed to improve the well- being of the United States population. Defined it is a state of well- being having prosperity, comfort and health. Dating back to the mid 1930’s, President Roosevelt established a program to help the welfare of the poor call the Works Progress Administration or WPA. Under this attempted solution, which lasted until 1943, public jobs were provided to the able-bodied poor in exchange for assistance. When WPA began, it’s beneficiaries totaled a half million people(Cozic, 12). Since the end of this program others have been established. The most common is the Aid for Families of Dependent Children or AFDC, which is a program for unmarried single mothers and their children. In 1995, AFDC had a line up of 14 million Americans with two- thirds being children. Since the start of the War on Poverty in 1965, the United States has spent more than 3.5 trillion dollars trying to decrease the underclass. The numbers from 1935 to 1995 rose substantially, which had America looking for better ways to solve the problem of the poor.
There are many arguments brought up among partisan politics. Like every other topic faced in this nation, the Conservatives and Liberals just cannot seem to completely agree. The main goal that both Conservatives and Liberals share about welfare is the desire to move welfare recipients off the welfare roll and into jobs. That is logical but so far out of reach. People are always looking for the easy way through life such as free assistance from the government.
While the desirable outcome is common, the reasons for failure of the system differ. Conservatives believe that many welfare recipients spend long periods of time collecting government aid because the sizable help that they are receiving is more attractive than going to work. The fact that welfare provides the basic necessities without requiring work, recipients have no initiative to become self-supporting and find a job(Rector, Internet). Conservatives acknowledge the only way to encourage the dependent poor to get jobs, is to end the welfare system(Cozic,13). By ending the welfare system, the working-aged person would have nothing else to turn to but the job market, family members, friends, and public or private locally funded services(Cozic,36). The only way to prevent new people from entering the failed system is to end the program that protects them form the consequences of their actions.
On the other hand, Liberals are welfare advocates. Liberals believe that those in need are trapped in poverty because neither the system nor the low wage work available to them enables them to overcome poverty(Cozic,14). Liberals argue that if the federal government continues its traditional practice of offering free handouts, children would be better off, and the social conditions of the underclass Americans will decline or disappear. Under the system, these ideals have been tried and they have failed. Children on welfare compared to those whose families are poor but not on welfare, do less well in school and earn less(Rector, Internet).
Perhaps one of the biggest concerns dealing with the welfare system is the factor of dependency. Imagine yourself a single woman with three children living in a housing development with no money, and no job. Where do you turn? Well, like 5 million other single moms in the AFDC program you rely on the government to help you until you get back up on your feet. While on welfare, your rent is paid, there are health benefits for your children and you even get money to spend on necessities. At the same time your receiving food stamps for food and your children are getting free lunch at school. What a great life! While the kids are at school your getting paid to keep up with Jerry Springer. Sounds good, huh? Unfortunately, it sounded good for many of the welfare recipients. Who could blame them? Many people, 70 percent in some states, do actually get off the program but end up re-enrolling because of the tax burden of low wage jobs, child care costs, and health care costs(Cozic,26). Women are going out and getting jobs finding that they are only working to pay for childcare costs. Welfare aid is tax free unlike having a job where a substantial amount is taken out for taxes. Finally when a women finds a job she is asked to give up her children’s health benefits and is left paying on her own which can be costly. Welfare has created a world in...
Cozic, Charles P. & Winters, Paul A. (Ed.). (1997). Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA, Greenhaven Press Inc.Roleff, Tamara L. (Ed.). (1996). The Homeless: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA, Greenhaven Press Inc.
How Congress Reformed the Welfare System. (1996).
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